When any road registered vehicle is hauling any road registered trailer, it is a critical fact of law and safety that the trailer which the vehicle is hauling must have directional and signal electric lighting to communicate the drivers intentions to the external environment around the vehicle. It is even more critical that these trailer lighting systems work and comply in every way to road standards thus meeting the roads and traffic authorities legal requirements. If the legal signal lighting on any road registered trailer is not within compulsory specifications, it is breaking the law. If this vehicle was to be involved in an accident both legal and insurance issues would be of a negative consequence.
Therefore ensuring operation of trailer lamps and their circuits becomes an important issue. Commonly a driver will go to the rear of the trailer to see if the lights are working before they start their journey. This method of checking trailer lights is not practicable whilst the vehicle is in motion. Various fault indicator systems for trailers have been developed for fault detection of trailer circuits, however all forgetting to address simplicity and unity in areas such as installation and operation.
At present there is no universal device which has the ability to be mounted in any vehicle which has a trailer connector and serve the function of warning the driver of the vehicle if all and any trailer circuits such as stop lights, tail or clearance lights, directional indicator lights and units such as electric brake systems, are working correctly or not working correctly whilst the driver is still seated in the driver-seat-and the vehicle in motion or stationary. The Invention documented within is a universal electrical tell tale system for trailers which can be mounted in any vehicle anywhere in the world. The main goal and purpose is to automatically warn the driver of a vehicle that is hauling a trailer, by means of a unique tell tale monitor whether the vehicle be in motion or stationary, that electrical circuits on the trailer are correctly working or malfunctioning when those trailer signals are used.
The invented system consists of two main units and their electrical connections which can be simply and universally mounted in any vehicle which is equipped with a electrical trailer connection plug. One main unit being a main control unit, situated at the rear of the vehicle, which is connected in series with the vehicle""s trailer plug wiring. The second main unit being a tell tale monitor consisting of different coloured light emitting diodes, each for a different trailer circuit. The tell tale monitor is mounted so the driver of the vehicle has visible access to it and is connected to the main control unit by a thin modular, low voltage cable. The two units, their mounting and connection in the vehicle form an electrical tell tale system which by means of a universally mounted tell tale monitor, using light or sound that automatically convey the operating condition of trailer circuits to the driver when those trailer circuits are used. The tell tale system when installed in the vehicle can be tested, by designed testing tools which test systems operation by current and voltage tests.